By Own Correspondent- Recent developments where an Air Zimbabwe plane experienced “a malfunction” in one of its engines causing a brief fire while flying from OR Tambo International Airport to Robert Mugabe International Airport will see President Emmerson Mnangagwa and his administration blow millions more on private jets, ZimEye can exclusively reveal.
Sources within Mnangagwa’s administration revealed that the recent development has sent shivers down the spines of senior members of Mnangagwa’s administration who now fear for their lives and have raised concern over their safety if they are to use the national airliner for national duty.
Said a source who cannot be named:
“There has always been reservations on using the national airliner, but these latest two incidents have put the nail in the coffin.
More money will be blown on private jets.”
Mnangagwa has in the past come under fire for the millions that he blows on international travel while the country is reeling in economic abyssy.
In January, Mnangagwa toured Russia, Belarus, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Davos in Switzerland, where he attended the World Economic Forum.
Zimbabwe’s first citizen, who has a penchant for luxury used an expensive luxury Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner aircraft for the trip which reportedly milked the nation of an estimated $25 million.
However, government defended Mnangagwa and claimed that the use of the luxury jet was justified since these trips would unlock economic benefits for Zimbabwe’s ailing economy since these countries were more economically stable than Zimbabwe. The economic benefits are yet to come.
Mnangagwa recently told party supporters that the United Arab Emirates Prince offered him a plane for his travels for free, as part of the duo’s “arrangement”.
But investigations with the same company that released the private jet to president Mnangagwa strongly suggest that the aircraft is commercially leased to clients.
The public customer data displayed below show the commercial nature of the business which Mnangagwa said was being given to him “free”.
Insider (ZANU PF) sources in the US and UK, narrated what they claimed is flat base transacting by Mnangagwa in person.
The payments, in forex comes amid the Southern African nation reeling from forex shortages which saw the introduction of a new currency dubbed “RTGs dollar”.
Recently, Mnangagwa torched a storm after he charted the private jet to travel from Harare to Bulawayo for a meeting with representatives of civil society organisations.
The Airbus A318-100 flew seven hours and 16 minutes from Dubai in the United Arab Emirates on two days before the event to position in Harare, ahead of Mnangagwa’s flight to Bulawayo.